Kohut's Self Psychology for a Fractured World

Drawing from Kohut's conceptualisation of self, Riker sets out how contemporary America's formulation of persons as autonomous, self-sufficient individuals is deeply injurious to the development of a vitalizing self-structure-a condition which lies behind much of the mental illness and social malaise of today's world.

Autorentext

John Hanwell Riker has been an award-winning professor of philosophy at Colorado College since 1968 and has published four books. He was the Kohut Distinguished Professor at the University of Chicago in 2003.

Klappentext

Drawing from Kohut's conceptualisation of self, Riker sets out how contemporary America's formulation of persons as autonomous, self-sufficient individuals is deeply injurious to the development of a vitalizing self-structure-a condition which lies behind much of the mental illness and social malaise of today's world.

Inhalt

Introduction Part One: Kohut and Self Psychology 1. The Structure of the Self as a Transformation of Narcissistic Libido 2. The Functions of the Self, Selfobjects, and Ethical Life 3. The Self as Erotic Striving 4. Metapsychology: The Self, the Ego, and Personhood 5. A Self Psychological Understanding of Psychopathology Part Two: The Concept of Self in the Modern World 6. The Construction of Individuals in Modern Society 7. Contemporary Social Practices that Undermine the Self and the Psycho/Social Ills that Result from this Destabilization Part Three: Plato's Republic and a New Self Psychological Society 8. Plato's Republic: The Ideal of a Rational State and Soul 9. The Ideal Self Psychological State: A New Republic 10. Transcending the Self: Metaphysics, Spirituality, and the Meaning of Life